Essence
by Beckeh
Summary: Dante Sparda gets a call one night about a demon attack. The caller is a young girl, and when Dante goes to investigate, theres more to her than meets the eye...one shot fic.


A/N: Heeeey. I'm starting another fic, and the idea came to me in a DREEEAM!!...I think. This fic takes place after DMC3. Yeah, I know not much about the storyline is out, but this takes place before DMC1, therefore after DMC3. I take it Dante's about...20 or so here. Somewhere around that age.  
  
Summary: Dante, half mortal half devil, and owner of the "Devil May Cry", gets a call for help against demons - but the caller didn't have the password. However, the caller was a young girl of only five years old, and being a caramel type of guy (hard on the outside, soft in the centre) he goes to help, and realises how much potential this young girl has as a demon slayer, and gets a first-hand experience of what its like to work with kids...  
  
Enjoy!!  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Dante Sparda sat back in his favourite leather office chair. He pushed his back towards the wall, bending the back of the seat over as far as it would go. He propped his legs up onto his desk amongst various pits of paperwork, drink bottles and pizza boxes, and his all-important phone.   
  
Same job, different day - he had just returned from slaying a small group of Goatlings - a hell-born demon he oh-so-hated - that had taken over a lawfirm, for some odd reason. He reached for the lone slice of pizza in the box, and finished eating it.  
  
"Mmm - mushroom and chicken," he said to himself happily, looking at the severed heads of monsters he had slaughtered in the past, pinned onto the walls with various swords of different shapes and sizes, each with a large ooze of dried blood dripping down the wall under it.  
  
He ran a gloved hand through his silver hair, and picked up his mobile phone, going into the 'Games' section, smiling at his unbeatable high score on Snake of 2469.  
  
As he chose to start a new game, his phone rang, making its trilly 'brrrrings' echo off the walls. He hastily picked it up, trying to play his mobile game with the other hand.  
  
"Devil May Cry," he said into the reciever. He expected the person on the other end to be some middleaged woman asking for help, but it wasn't.  
  
"I need help, now! Devil May Cwy? Demons, lots of demons! Lots and lots!"  
  
The voice that responded was that of a VERY young girl. Dante figured she couldn't be more than five or so.  
  
"Sorry, we closed at nine."  
  
He was half way through putting the reciever down into the terminal, when the shrill scream of the girl escaped through the reciever, and even from a distance it made Dante wince.  
  
"Hey, everything okay?"  
  
Of all the stupid questions, he thought to himself.  
  
"No, no, no! Demons! Big goat thingies! AND GHOSTS WITH KNIIIIIVES!" The voice suddenly got slightly quieter as the person on the other end held the phone away from them slightly, "Mom?! MOM! THEY'VE TAKEN MOM! They've...they've...mom? Get up...mom?..."  
  
The voice started to quiver and sounded if they were choking on something. The phone thudded as if it had been dropped to the floor. Dante was starting to gain interest in the case.  
  
"Hey, where do you live?"  
  
"Mom...I...two-seven-six-three...on twenty-sixth street....Mom?...."  
  
Muffled sobs followed soon after. Dante slowly put the reciever down, and grabbed his blade from its holster on the wall.  
  
"Screw the password...this should be interesting..." he said to himself quietly. He hopped onto a silver motorbike he 'borrowed', and sped off for his said address.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Two-Seven-Six-Three, Twenty-Sixth Street. Dante looked at the address above the door. The house seemed innocent enough - it was painted in a tudoresque style, with black beams darting across the white wooden planks that made up the walls. It was obvious something had happened, for all the windows were broken, and the smell of death hung about the place...Dante slowly stepped into the door, and readied his twin guns.  
  
But nothing met him. Remains of grim-reaper-lookalike demons were scattered about the living room, as were the bodies of several dead Goatlings. Stepping over them he slowly made his way around the house, looking for any signs of life.  
  
As he stepped into the kitchen he felt a searing pain shoot up his leg.  
  
"OWW! What the - ?"  
  
He looked down - a kitchen knife had been shoved into his shins, and had impaled all the way through his leg. Dante wasn't worried about it, being half demon he was immune to these type of things, but it sure as hell hurt.  
  
But two hands were still held onto the handle. Dante followed the arms upto a young face - that of a girl no more than five years old. She had silvery blonde hair streaked with brown at her parting that went down to her shoulder blades in length, and her eyes shone an icy blue.  
  
"Were you the one who made the call?"  
  
The girl nodded. Her eyes were red and her cheeks puffy - she had obviously been crying.  
  
"...What on EARTH happened here?..."  
  
Yet the girl didn't answer - she just held onto something more tightly, and Dante was surprised he hadn't noticed sooner.  
  
A woman, around her early thirties in age, was held tightly in the young girls arms, and she was dead, a scythe pierced into her back. Dante's job wasn't exactly easy with all the human deaths he wanted to try and prevent.  
  
"...She's dead." he said quietly.  
  
"She's...she's not gonna wake up, is she?"  
  
Dante shook his head. The girl wailed and held her mothers body closer, her tears running into her mothers golden hair. Dante tried to change the matter.  
  
"Why were they here?"  
  
The girl looked up, and found it hard to speak judging by her look, "I don't k-know...they just s-s-said something like 'we need the girl, she will join the halfling's side one day', and then they...they killed mom."  
  
"The halfling?" Dante suddenly had the thought they the demons were reffering to himself, as he was half devil, half human. He tried to think it out - if they were referring to him, and the girl they needed was this one, then they meant that she would one day be a demon slayer. It seemed ludicrous.  
  
"Hey, little girl...who was the one that killed them all?"  
  
The girl looked up, and the seemingly innocent look about her was suddenly shattered after what she said.  
  
"I did. With that kitchen knife."  
  
Dante wasn't overly shocked but he was surprised. Perhaps her appearence had caught the demons off-guard, and she used the chance to attack?  
  
"...Wow."  
  
Dante started to kneel down, but the girl backed away into the corner of the kitchen.  
  
"Hey, hey, no need to be scared. All the demons are gone now, and if any come back I will kill them."  
  
The girl only shivered more, clutching her mothers dead body. Perhaps she would feel more at ease if she knew his name.  
  
"My names Dante. C'mon, don't be scared, okay?" He said, a bit angrily. Dante found it hard to actually be kind to someone, as he wasn't used to being around kids.  
  
"...My names...its Evelyn, but my mom used to call me Eevee."  
  
"..Alright, Kid. If you come with me you'll be much safer then staying here."  
  
Eevee clutched her mother body again - she wasn't going anywhere without it.  
  
"You can bring her, and we'll give her a decent burial. C'mon."  
  
Eevee refused to move, irritating Dante.  
  
"C'mon!" He said, with a slightly more threating tone. Wrong move. Eevee turned on the waterworks again, and Dante slapped his forehead in frustration.  
  
"Hey, hey! I'm sorry, I'm just not used to dealing with kids, okay?!"  
  
Yet his attempt to cheer her up was in vain. She only cried louder, and Dante saw no way of getting her to move.  
  
"Okay, I didn't wanna have to do this..."  
  
He pulled some tablets from his belt pocket, and went over to the sink and made a glass of water for the girl, putting the tablets in and watching them dissolve instantly.  
  
"Here, have a drink. You'll feel better."  
  
Surprisingly she snatched the drink from his hand - her throat must have ached from all her crying. Almost as soon as she finished it she slumped over her mothers body, still holding her tightly. Dante picked her mothers body up with her body on top, and carried them out of the house.  
  
The moon was at a diagonal angle, so it must've been early morning. He hopped onto his bike, putting the two bodies on his lap, making them sit upright, and drove back to the DMC, somewhat happier to be going back than usual.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
"Dante, you did the right thing, bringing her back. Thank you."  
  
Who are you?  
  
"Don't worry about me, worry about the girl. She'll be in a state for a bit..."  
  
...Who are you?  
  
"she'll need every bit of comfort, like a parents love. I know you're not that good with kids..."  
  
Why are you telling me this?...  
  
"...But please, try to make her feel at home. She'll need foster parents, she can't possibly be brought up amongst all the danger of working at the DMC..."  
  
What?...  
  
"All will be made clear..."  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Dante woke up on his office chair, slumped onto his desk. He was surprisingly tired last night, but couldn't remember why, and was asleep before his head hit the table. He looked over to the couch - Eevee was sitting upright, staring in horror at the heads on the wall. Dante groaned, and walked over to her.  
  
"Hey, if you didn't like the heads, why didn't you wake me up?...I coulda taken you somewhere else..."  
  
"Because," she started, shivering, "You were talking in your sweep, and I didn't wanna wake yoo..."  
  
"Talking...in my sleep?...Aha, right. C'mon, if you don't like it here, theres a room behing the desk. Its not great, but theres a couch you can catch up with your sleep on."  
  
Eevee turned around and stared at him with those huge, icy eyes, "But where's my mom?"  
  
Dante thought hard - he couldn't remember where he had left her. Then it suddenly came back to him - he had buried her, in the nearest cemetery, dug the hole himself and everything. So THATS why he was so tired. He had even carved a makeshift tombstone until he could get a proper one.  
  
"Uhhm...c'mon, sleep, now."  
  
"Where's my mom?!" Eevee demanded, somewhat threateningly. Dante sighed, and led her outside.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
"You...buried her. Without me knowing..."  
  
"Listen, kid, I didn't want to getting upset. Besides, you were out cold."  
  
"Yeah, fwom a dwink YOO gave me."  
  
Damn, she's smart.  
  
"Yeah, well, YOU wouldn't stop crying!"  
  
"My mom had just DIED! You think I'd be laughing?"  
  
"No, but-"  
  
Before Dante had finished his reply, Eevee had flung herself onto the tombstone Dante had carved quickly until a proper one could be installed.  
  
"And what's up with DIS?! I mean, she was more than just a crummy old rock with carvings on it! HER NAME WAS RACHEL! RACHEL HOLLINGS! You call this a tombstone?! She needs one with a big statue of an angel, because dats what she was! An Angel! Ever since our dad died fighting those demons-"  
  
Her dad was a demon fighter?...Only purebloods or halfbloods usually fight demons...  
  
"...she raised me all on her own, just me and her, until the demons came, and she died protecting ME!"  
  
Eevee picked up a nearby stick and drew a very kiddy-styled angel in the dirt.  
  
"There, mom, until I get yoo a WEAL Angel tombstone, here's my angel, I'll carve one myself if I hafta."  
  
Eevee threw the stick down, looked at her mother grave one last time, and took off past Dante, headed for the city.  
  
"Hey - wait! Oh, damn. I don't have time to be running after kids. Screw this!" Dante called after her, and hopped upon his bike once again, and drove in the direction of the DMC.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Dante had been sat in his seat for about two hours now, arms crossed, scowling at what seemed nothing. His mind wandered occasionally back to Eevee, but he shook it out of his head. He was a demon hunter, not a baby sitter. She slayed those demons before, she can slay any that come along...but...then again she had a kitchen knife on her at the time, she's unarmed now - no, she's resourceful, I hope. She can take care of herself. I'm sure she'll find a doorway or something to hide in.  
  
At the precise moment that sentence made its way across Dantes mind, thunder rumbled from outside, and rain fell from the heavens in huge masses.  
  
"Oh, for gods sake!"  
  
Dante strode over to the door, yanked it open with such force that it rebounded off the wall and the handle hit him in the side, and walked out into the rain.  
  
First objective, find her, and scold her.  
  
But damn, she's in a city the size of bloody New York, he she no sense?  
  
Oh My God, I'm starting to sound like a parent, Dante thought angrily. He hopped on his bike once more, getting tired of it, and set off for the city.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Alleyway after Alleyway showed no sign of Eevee, and Dante had to admit it, he was getting worried. No, anxious. Dante wasn't sure what he was.  
  
He had been up all the residential streets and jumped on their rooftops to gain more view of the area, and turned up nothing. All that was left was the central business district, and there was no sign of anyone in the streets (its was well into the night, and Dante was sure she wouldn't be hanging around the nightclubs), so his only place to look was the backend. Dante called her name several times, trying not to sound worried.  
  
"Damn, this is the LAST alleyway, she has to be here."  
  
Dante peered his head around the corner, rain dripping into his eyes. All the guttering led to this alleyway.  
  
And of all the alleyways with doorways to hide under, she had to chose this one.  
  
Eevee was sat under an open-ended gutter, knees hugged to her chest, so that an endless trickle of rainwater fell onto her hair. She was only adorned into her slightly baggy jeans and too-big t-shirt, which was still stained with her mothers blood.  
  
"Oh, for gods sake," Dante said, as he couldn't hold back his sympathy any longer. He slowly trudged over to her, trough the muddy puddles and over various rubbish bags. He slowly knelt down next to her.  
  
"...Hey, silly girl, why didn't you go into a burger bar or something? They would've housed you better. You might've even got free food."  
  
Eevee looked up into his eyes, but put her head into her arms again. Dante was getting slightly agitated again, but put it aside.  
  
"Look, kid. I was gonna get your mom a tombstone, a proper one, but I didn't have the time, money, and not many shops are open at that time..."  
  
"I don't wanna be a bother, Mister Dante, sir."  
  
"You're not...listen, those demons were after you. They must've had some way of prophesising the future, because you have some natural demon slaying abilities. Not many five years olds could slay Goatlings with a kitchen knife...I'm something of a demon slayer myself," he said, chuckling.  
  
"I know. Thats why I wang yoo."  
  
"You...knew my number?"  
  
"Yeah, someone my mom knew had twouble wiv demons, and they told her the number, just in case, and she told me, just in case."  
  
"...I think your mom knew...tell me, was your dad...I mean, did he look like every other human man?"  
  
"You mean like yoo? Noo, he sorta had darky grey skin, and he had a tail. A pointy one. Which is why I have a tail."  
  
Dante looked at her floor - indeed, she had a dragon like tail, and kicked himself mentally for not knowing before.  
  
"Well, then you're destined to slay demons. I could...train you, if you'd like. But you really need a foster family, so...you could come on weekends or something."  
  
Eevee nodded, comforted slightly. Hey, maybe getting to kids isn't so hard after all.  
  
Eevee suddenly sneezed, and shivered. Dante took the ends of his cloak and wrapped it around her, the silk inside warming her skin a little.  
  
"C'mon, you're gonna catch your death out here."  
  
Geez...I really AM starting to sound like a parent, he thought, slightly amused.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
"Well, you're gonna have to be sleeping in here for a little while."  
  
Dante observed Eevee's expression - she looked disgusted. The room behind the desk of DMC was a cluttered wooden room, with posters of motorbikes, swords and half naked ladys pinned to the walls. Random assortments of things lay strewn across the wooden floor (including clothes, naughty magazines, bullet shells, beer cans, bottles and pizza boxes), and a small, solitary TV was propped on top of a pile of old boxes. The only piece of furniture in the room was an old but somewhat comfy looking sofa. One of his old cloaks was hung over the arm of the sofa - he hadn't worn it in years.  
  
"Uhm, don't worry, I never come in this room anymore. The sofa's comfy though. Uhhmm...lemme find you a blanket or something."  
  
Dante went into the storeroom (where he kept random things, including disinfectant), and pulled out a blanket which had never been removed from its plastic packaging. He unwrapped it and shook it out - it was very clean but smelt like dust. He went back into the 'living room', and over to the sofa.  
  
"Hey, kid, I got a..."  
  
Dante never had the chance to finish his sentence. Eevee was already asleep, with her tiny body wrapped in Dante's old cloak, her head propped up against the sofa arm.  
  
"...blanket."  
  
He folded the blanket up again and slowly lifted up her head, put the blanket under and set her head down again, turning it into a makeshift pillow. Dante made to exit the room, but looked at Eevee one more time.  
  
"Kids..." he said, shaking his head. He slowly walked out of the room, shutting the door as quietly as he could.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Five hours, a bloodied Dante and sixteen dead Goatlings later ("First real case in a week...I HATE Goatlings...."), Dante returned to the DMC. He collapsed into his leather chair and sighed, leaning back as far as the chair would let him. He was about to catch up on his sleep, when a loud and consitent squeaking kept him from doing so.  
  
"...Kid?"  
  
Dante reluctantly got up from his seat to check on Eevee. He opened the door slowly incase she was still asleep, but soon found out there was no need.  
  
Eevee was bouncing up on the sofa as if it were a trampoline, emmiting a loud squeak everytime her feet hit the fabric. Dante started to say something to try and stop her, but something else caught his attention.  
  
The room was spotless.  
  
"...Kid?! Did you tidy up this place?"  
  
"Yeahyeahyeah! I couldn't stand the smell and there was junk evewywhere...and those magazines were weird! Did those girls KNOW that their panties had fawwen down? I'd be pwetty embaressed if I were them!"  
  
Dante couldn't help but laugh. Clearly this girl had never heard of the term 'pornographic'.  
  
"Uh, no, I guess they didn't. But you didn't have to tidy up, you know."  
  
"ButIwantedto!" Eevee said, still jumping on the sofa.  
  
"Why?!"  
  
"Becausemymomusedtocleanallthetimeanditmadeherhappy!"  
  
It suddenly struck him. Eevee had gotten over her mothers death surprisingly quick.  
  
"...You're not really that upset over her anymore, are you?"  
  
Eevee suddenly stopped jumping, "Of course I am! But she's happier now in a bedder place. So if shes happy, then I'm happy!"  
  
Dante considered this...what if her mother had ended up...down there? Best not the downhearten her.  
  
"...Yeah, I guess."  
  
"Oh, Mister Dante, do yoo have anyfink to eat?"  
  
"Oh...yeah, I have some pizza. You like pizza?"  
  
"Yeahyeahyeah, Mushroom and Chicken ish my favourite!"  
  
Dante chuckled, "Yeah, my favourite too."  
  
Dante looked around - he had finished the pizza earlier. He reached for his cellphone and dialed in a number so fast it was if he dialed this number several times everyday.  
  
"Yeah, Simon? It's me. Usual please, usual place. Thanks."  
  
Eevee looked at him, puzzled, "'Oowuzzat?"  
  
"Simon. He's a friend who works down at the pizza place. We'll get the pizza soon...so, uh, are you...bored or anything? Thirsty?"  
  
"I am kinda firsty."  
  
Dante looked around the room. The only drink he had was an energy drink - he couldn't possibly give her beer. He reached for the golden can and gave it to her.  
  
"It's an energy drink. Try not to down it in one go."  
  
Eevee shook the can violently, "I can't open it."  
  
Dante took the canback from her and pulled back the ring on the top. The drink inside spruted out from having been shaken, and the content spewed all over Dante. Eevee keeled over in laughter as Dante's hair stuck together from the drink.  
  
"Hey - hey! It's not that...funny..."  
  
Dante got half way through his sentence before starting to laugh himself. He regained his posture, though, and put on a serious face.  
  
"Hey, not funny. At all. Don't ever do that again." he said, in a scolding voice. Eevee bit her lip, and had an expression which looked like a mix of 'oh my god, I had better shut up' and 'oh my god, he's so stupid'.  
  
"Go to sleep. I have a job to do."  
  
Dante strode over to the door, and slammed it behind him, sighing heavily.  
  
"I can't keep up with this kid...she need's foster parents, now."  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
The first thing Dante did as soon as he fed her was take her to the adoption agency. If she was to have foster parents, she would have to spend around a month in the orphanage, seeing as that is what she was...an orphan. Dante had actually made an effort to look 'normal', donned in a normal white shirt with a green jacket over it, and some plain denim jeans worn over his legs. Eevee had to tuck her tail into her trousers to avoid bullying and attention, but it was the best thing for her.  
  
"Is this Miss Hollings?" the receptionist inquired.  
  
"Yeah. She needs foster parents, and fast, I can't look after her."  
  
The receptionist, a rather haggard looking old woman, bent her head forward so her glasses slipped down her nose, "And why is that? Business? Out at work too often?"  
  
"...Something like that."  
  
"...I see. Come with me, Miss Hollings."  
  
Eevee had been standing behind Dante's legs the whole time they were in the reception. It was a modern and clean looking place, but somehow felt creepy, even to Dante. The receptionist walked round to her, and bent down, taking her hand a little forcefully, as Eevee clung to Dante's leg.  
  
Dante sighed irritably. He shook his leg a little in an attempt to shake her off.  
  
"Go on," was all he said. Eevee looked up at him with huge, blue, watery eyes, as if she were on the brink of tears.  
  
"I'm gonna miss yoo, Mister Dante. I won't be able to see yoo again...they won't lemme leave dis place...unless you still wanted to-"  
  
"I'm not gonna give you fighting lessons, kid. I don't have time to teach a five year old how to slay demons. Go with the lady, you'll fit in here soon enough."  
  
Eevee whimpered quietly, as if trying to stifle her sadness. She eventually went with the lady, reluctantly, and looked back at Dante one last time with watered eyes, before stepping through the doubledoors and into her new 'home'.  
  
Dante let out a sigh...a strangely shaky sigh.  
  
"...See ya, kid."  
  
Dante walked over to the door slowly, not looking back.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
That night it rained worse than ever. It always seemed to rain when Eevee wasn't around...or if she was sad...  
  
Dante tried to keep his mind on other things. He walked over to the stereo and turned it on full blast, and dipped his head in sync with the music. He threw his jacket off and clumped into his leather seat.  
  
"Damn, I love this song. Where the hell did I put that pizza? My sword could use a clean. Where the hell is the sword polish? I hope the kid will fit in."  
  
Oh, jesus christ. Perhaps I SHOULD have let her take lessons. But then again, what can a five year old do? That whole kitchen knife thing was a fluke. It had to be.  
  
...It couldn't have been...  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
"Dante, I know you care about her more than THAT."  
  
Oh God, not you again.  
  
"She has great potential. She won't be anything on you, but sure as hell she'll be damn good."  
  
Who the hell ARE you? I'm getting tired of this.  
  
"Dante, don't deny what you want to do. At least go VISIT her...you'll see."  
  
See what?!   
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Dante woke up, slumped on his desk again. He really had to stop doing that. He rubbed his head...another voice dream. In his head. He was going insane...or was he?  
  
The nagging voice kept telling him to at least go and see her, see hows she's getting on, if she's getting bullied...  
  
Dante hopped aboard his bike and drove off for the orphanage, lucky for him he was still in the 'normal' set of clothes.  
  
"Okay, five minutes, in and out. No more. And no more seeing her after this."  
  
He turned the corner where the orphange was. It looked no different, but it felt different...but why?  
  
It suddenly hit him...the smell of death hung in the air.  
  
"Perhaps the old bat at the desk died," he thought to himself.  
  
He knocked on the front door, and after recieving no answer, he walked in...the door was unlocked. Funny, they have a voice transmitter that unlocked doors. Ot was never just LEFT unlocked...strange. Dante shrugged it off.  
  
No one was at the desk. He rang the bell numerous times but was left unattended.  
  
"Perhaps the old bat DID die."  
  
The double doors were slightly ajar too. Temptation overtook, and he went through them, into the corridor that led to the childrens main room, where they all slept.  
  
And it became clear why Dante could 'smell' death in the air.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
All the children were dead. Every single one. Young children, old children and teenagers bodies were left strewn about the room, trickles of blood leaking from their lifeless bodies.  
  
"Oh my god...kid?..." Dante called, anxiously.  
  
A small whimper answered, and there she was. Eevee was huddled in a corner, hugging her knees to her chest, with a skipping rope laid at her feet.  
  
"Oh, boy. Kid, kid...what happened?"  
  
Eevee shivered, staring at the bloodied skipping rope at her feet.  
  
"They came again. They came and they killed evewyone. We were all playing...well, I wasn't...I was all awone...and then they came."  
  
Dante looked around at the children, who eyes were all glassed over and all held the same expression - shocked, vacant...  
  
"Kid...WHY didn't you call me? I could've stopped this."  
  
"Because...yoo remember what yoo said? Yoo said that yoo would come and kill them. But then yoo left me here, and I was hugging yoo and yoo didn't hug me back, so I thought yoo didn't wanna be fweinds anymore..."  
  
Hugging?  
  
Oh...she was hugging my legs. Damn, of course, she's half a bloody metre tall.  
  
"Kid...my job is hunting devils. I do this sort of things for a living, you could've - wait, who killed them all this time?"  
  
Eevee suddenly broke down, running into an endless stream of tears. She got up and clung to Dante's leg.  
  
"I did, it was me again! I drove them away, wiv that skipping rope! I threw it at them, and they ran away, because the skipping rope started glowing red!"  
  
Glowing?  
  
"...It started glowing?"  
  
Did this kid...channel some kind of energy into the rope...and drive them away?  
  
Dammit, I AM going insane.  
  
Eevee was still clinging to Dante's leg furiously, still crying loudly.  
  
"Kid...c'mon. You have to come back with me. These things are after you, and the only place you're gonna be safe is with me. Demons don't come after ME, so they won't go after you, not with me around."  
  
...Oh dear God, what have I just gotten myself into? I've just gone and blown my image and turned into Dante, the babysitter. But...then again...if she has got potential, I suppose I need all the help I can get. The forces are getting stronger.  
  
"Hey, kid, forget what I said earlier. I'll train you."  
  
Eevee looked at him through her icy and red stained blue eyes.  
  
"I don't wanna be a swayer. I don't like it when people die, even when it the bad people. I don't like killing things, it makes me feel bad."  
  
Dante sighed. She WANTED to be a slayer when Dante didn't want to train her, and now it was the other way around.  
  
There was no understanding this kid...  
  
"...you didn't want your mother to die, did you?"  
  
Eevee shook her head.  
  
"Well, those baddies did. If I were you, I would kill each one of those suckers and make them pay for senseless killings. But I'm not you, and in the end its your choice. Do you want to kill the person responsible for her death, or are you going to let them get away with it?"  
  
Eevee hung her head, and backed away from Dante. She looked at the skipping rope, then her own hand, as if in deep thought.  
  
"...What would mom want?"  
  
Dante hung his head, now - how the hell would he know?  
  
"...Whatever makes you happy."  
  
Eevee looked up, and a small, but meaningful smile crept upon her face.  
  
"It would make me happy to make them unhappy, to feel what I've felt. Are yoo still going to twain me?"  
  
"..Yeah, I'll train you."  
  
Damn, Dante thought, she can't go to a foster family, she can't go to an orphange, she can't go out on the streets, those things will still be after her. And now I'M stuck with her.  
  
"Damn," Dante cursed under his breath. Eevee ran out bag after hearing the sound of metal upon rubber, and something bouncing.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
"Mister Dante, look what I found!"  
  
"Wha...a trampoline?..."  
  
"Yeah, someone threw it away out back!"  
  
"Kid, get off of that! It might be broken!"  
  
"YEEE! BONCEBOUNCEBOUNCE! Mister Dante, yoo gotta try this!"  
  
"...Kid, I'm not getting on that."  
  
"BOUNCEBOUNCEBOUNCE!"  
  
Dante remained silent. This kid was so easily amused it was laughable.  
  
"...Move it, kid, we gotta get back."  
  
"Get on the TRAMPOWEEN!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
Eevee suddenly stopped bouncing and sat down on the elastic, putting on a sorrowful face.  
  
"Awwwwww....pweeeeeeease Mister Dante?...Then I'll come back with yoo. Pweeeeease?"  
  
Dante started at the ground.  
  
"...No. Now move it."  
  
As Dante reached for her hand, she grabbed onto the side of the trampoline, and held on with surprising strength. Dante sighed furiously. He sat down on the elastic, and crossed his arms irritably.  
  
"Yeeeey!"  
  
Dante bounced slightly as Eevee's feet hit the elastic, but held his posture and tried to look as annoyed as humanly possible.  
  
"...It's times like this I wish I was a kid again."  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Dante woke the next morning to Eevee's constant 'wheeee's of joy as she swung around a baseball bat furiously. Dante wasn't going to let her anywhere near his swords, and the only other thing that could be counted as dangerous other than the baseball bat were his drumsticks, and they were getting tattered from Dante's mental drumming sessions. He had dragged a punchbag out from the store cupboard, the same he used when he was studying karate.  
  
"Okay, kid. First, I want you to hit that bag until it breaks. Have fun."  
  
Dante's short instruction left Eevee swinging at the bag for at least an hour, and she had gotten as far as ripping a few stitches. Dante, meanwhile, was eating pizza.  
  
"Mister Daaaaaanteeeeeee! I can't bweak it."  
  
"Of course you can't, they're not meant to break. Okay, next lesson - hit me with everything you got. I'll block, you keep swinging at me with that bat. Got it?"  
  
Eevee nodded, swung the bat back and thrust it forward into Dante's leg. Of course, he blocked. This continued for a few minutes until the phone rang, and Dante only had to look away for a second for Eevee to hit Dante...where it hurts.  
  
"JESUS CHRIST! Ow ow ow...not there, kid..." Dante limped over to the phone, and picked it up, and spoke into the reciever.  
  
"Devil May cry...password?....Okay. Damn, I hate Goatlings. No, no, I'll be there."  
  
Dante put down the reciever and looked over at Eevee, who was giggling insanely.  
  
"Kid, I gotta go out for five minutes. You keep hitting that bag, and don't go out of the office."  
  
Eevee nodded, halfway through a swing. Just to be sure, Dante locked the door behind him, though what good that would do if the demons found her was beyond him.  
  
Five minutes, no problem, they won't find her.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Oh, how wrong he was.  
  
When he came back, only four minutes after he left, the place was trashed. His desk, drum kit, jukebox, pool table, everything was upturned and sprawled around the room. This time, there was no blood to be seen, so no one had died...yet.  
  
"Oh, bloody hell..."  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
"Arkthen, my lord, we have the girl."  
  
The one known as Arkthen was a towering beast. Arkthen was the lord of all Goatlings, and looked over the time dimension, hence why he kept a staff with a red orb perched upon the top with a golden pocket watch around the decorative spikes that surrounded the orb...a strange weapon, but certaintly a useful one. He, unlike normal Goatlings, had white fur and black bat-like wings, and was about one and a half times the size of normal Goatlings, aswell.  
  
"Excellent," he said, his voice deep and booming, "Mundus will be pleased."  
  
"But...sir...we can't perform any ritual quite yet. She is yet to unlock her power for a good few years," spoke the servant Goatling whom, to Arkthen, was like an ant in matter of size and power. Arkthen sighed heavily.  
  
"This is the reason why you are only a soldier. You have been wanting to be a commander in the army for centuries, correct? Then think things out before speaking nonsense to me. You seem to have forgotten that I watch over time. Now, think it through, and I may just spare you."  
  
"O-oh, I see, my lord. Forgive me, I am just a lowly soldier, a thousand pardons oh-wise-one, a millions apologies-"  
  
Arkthen rubbed his forehead with his hands.  
  
"Just go, you...just bring the girl in here. If all goes well we can perform the ritual in a matter of hours."  
  
"At once."  
  
The servant dissapeared for a few minutes before returning with her, holding her by the back of her t-shirt. He turned away for a minute, as if comtemplating what to say, then came out and said it.  
  
"S-sir? I was not informed of what EXACTLY we need from her. If you would be so kind, so generous to inform me, I hope to be of better service to you."  
  
The servant Goatling shivered on the spot, expecting to be fried to a crisp, but surprisingly Arkthen smiled, as if he wanted to run over his master plan for the sheer sake of sharing his wisdom and cunning.  
  
"This girl is quarter Goatling. Didn't you know? Her father was half Goatling, and half Devil. And HIS father was full Goatling, and his mother was Devil. And do you know who her grandfather was? He was MY father, lord of all Goatlings, our founder. If he didn't exist, neither would we. Legend tells of a halfbreed who will grant us eternal power, invincibility, supreme power over the underworld, and soon, the overworld. I am three quarters that power...the other quarter is in this girl, and we need it. But, like you said, she is too young...and this is where the staff comes in. She needs to be fifteen to rightfully be able to have her powers extracted. Call it life force, or a hidden power - it comes in the form of a red swirling substance, neither gas, solid or liquid. It is not actually known WHAT it is, but we know WHAT it does. Of course, it'll be like her whole life is flashing before her. She will gain her natural demon slaying skills and be well learned, but, of course, she'll have no need for it...for the ritual will kill her. Used with us, the substance will grant us eternal power, but used against us, and we are all doomed...interesting."  
  
"Oh, I see! Extremely wise, master. I can only hope to be one tenth of what you are, oh wise and cunning one."  
  
"Yes, yes. Now tie her in the Room of Sacrifice, we'll start the ritual in a few hours."  
  
Arkthen leaned back into his seat, a smug smile creeping its way upon his face.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Dante prowled the streets. He had a good feeling about who took her, but had no clue whatsoever as to why. Goatlings were there everytime she was attacked, so his initial thought was that Goatlings took her again.  
  
Sure enough, he found a Goatling. Five of them, in fact. He pulled out Ebony and Ivory, and shoot all of them down, but deliberetly missed the heart of one of them, and hit it in the wings, shoulder and legs instead. The four that had been shot in the heart disintergrated immediatly, yet the last fell to the ground, weak and close to death. Dante got it up into a choke hold.  
  
"Where is she?"  
  
The Goatling snorted, its hot steamy breath wafting into Dante's face. He raised the gun to its temple, and it winced.  
  
"Where is she?!"  
  
"With my m-master...no p-p-point in trying to save her...foolish mortal..."  
  
Dante then took an unexpected move, and put Ebony to his chest, and pulled the trigger. Of course, the Goatling expected him to die, yet Dante only smirked, even with his own body fluids spurting out onto the pavement.  
  
"Mortal, huh?"  
  
"You...y-you're no ordinary mortal..."  
  
"Bingo. I'm the son of Sparda. And I'm only gonna ask you one more time. Where is she?!"  
  
The Goatlings eyes seemed to widen in disbelief, but soon returned to their normal size, and it laughed evilly.  
  
"So...the Son of Sparda...she is in our underworld, and if y-you want to go there so bad, I'll be only h-h-happy to oblige...I-I'm sure my fellow comrades will h-h-h-have fun killing you."  
  
the Goatling stomped his hoof on the ground as if calling something...the ground below him suddenly open up into a swirling vortex of fire. Dante waited until they were falling inside of it, then used Ivory to end the Goatlings miserable life. As his feet landed on the hot coals of the underworld, Dante smirked.  
  
This was going to be interesting...  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Eevee woke to the smell of brimstone and the sound of metal hitting metal. She opened her eyes slowly, and felt like her small body was being stretched in all four directions.  
  
"You're finally awake. We can't start the ritual with you asleep."  
  
Eevee seemed unaffected by this sudden change of place and the evil which spoke to her. She simply sighed, and asked him a question.  
  
"What do you want with me?"  
  
Arkthen smirked evilly, and leaned on the top of his time staff.  
  
"Are you aware of the powers that sleep within you, Miss Evelyn? We NEED those powers to-"  
  
"No, I'm not aware. Do tell."  
  
Eevee suddenly became very serious and sounded wiser beyond the age she was.  
  
"...Your grandfather was MY father. He was the supreme Goatling lord, and held a vast power within him, the power to rule this world, but if used against us, kill all Goatlings and wipe out a good lot of evil. The only person who would survive is Mundus...but, just between you and me, without his minions to give him power, he is nothing. Three quarters of the power rests in myself...and the other quarter...in you."  
  
Eevee still seemed unaffected, as if she already knew this, but she obviously didn't.  
  
"Which is why you managed to beat fifteen Goatlings with a mortal toy. You put that power into it...the reason why it 'glowed' red. And why you could defeat us at your house, because we killed your mother, correct? You channeled your energy into a household knife."  
  
"So I could just kill you right now?"  
  
"But you need an insentive, to do that. At that mortal place you call and orphanage, you were surrounded by such carnage that you channeled your energy into the rope. Yet now, you have no one to intice you into destroying me. And with an insentive you could also draw the power from me, but, like I said, there's nothing here to spark that power."  
  
"...So how are you going to get it out of me?"  
  
"Well, we can get it out of you quite easily, if you were a tad older."  
  
"So let me go, and abduct me again in a few years, in which case I'll just kick all your butts."  
  
Arkthen chuckled silently, and shook his head.  
  
"Sorry, but we can speed up the process right here, right now."  
  
Arkthen pointed the edge of his staff to Eevee's chest.  
  
"Don't worry, this won't hurt a bit. Until I zap you with this orb."  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
"Intruder! It's the son of Sparda! Kill him! KILL HIM, YOU IDIOTS!"  
  
Dante took the hollering Goatling to be the commander. He chuckled, somewhat evilly, and pulled up Ebony and Ivory and fired an endless round of bullets into the Goatlings heart with perfect aim. They all disintergrated into a small pile of ash before being blown away in the small wind. He took one near to death Goatling again, and put the gun to its head.  
  
"Where's your master, scum?"  
  
The Goatling winced. Even a devil may cry begging for Dante' mercy. He pointed a cloven hoof at a small, nearly invisible door in the corner, before Dante pulled the trigger and the Goatling disintergrated under him. He stode over to the door, brushing off Goatling remains, and kicked the door open, only to be met by twenty more Goatlings. He pulled out Ivory almost lazily and shot them all, continuing down the endless corridor to the Goatling lord.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
When people normally hear the cries of children, they wince and fall onto their knees begging for it to stop, their hearts full of sorrow.  
  
When demons normally hear the cries of children, they love every second of it.  
  
Indeed, Arkthen smiled as Eevee continued to scream a high pitched sound she was only dimly aware that she was making. A Green and blue light engulfed her body. Her eyes began to shrink inside her quickly growing skulls, her skin seemed to tear and repair itself as her bones began to widen with age. Her wrists soon because too big for the manicles, as the circulation was cut off from her fingers. She burst out of her clothes, and Arkthen could only smirk as he watched her pass puberty in a matter of minutes. He slowly raised the staff away from her, and leaned on it again, looking content.  
  
"Urgh, human anatomy. Disgusting. now, if you don't mind, I'm going to chant some spells and charge this staff full of the energy I need to suck out your essence, life force, the power that sleeps dormant within you."  
  
Eevee raised her head to look at him. Ina matter of ten minutes or so she had matured into a fairly pretty young girl of fifteen, and her hair was now down to her waist in length. Her eyes were still ice blue, but look glassed over and lifeless.  
  
Arkthen laughed evilly once again, quietly, before leaving Eevee to comtemplate what had just happened.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Another hundred or so dead Goatlings later, and there she was.  
  
Eevee.  
  
She was manicled to the wall in chains that were far too small for her. She was much older now...the age process had been sped up, and she was no longer the two and a half foot high girl Dante knew. she was in her teens, a pretty young girl, but looked near to death.  
  
"Kid?! Kid!"  
  
Dante rushed over to her, and used Ivory and his perfect aim to shoot her out of the chains. She fell towards the ground, and Dante caught her, wrapping her frail and bare body into his trenchcoat for warmth. He shook her, somewhat violently, in an attempt to wake her up.  
  
"Kid? Kid! Kid, c'mon!"  
  
She was alive, but still not responding.  
  
"Kid...Eevee, c'mon!"  
  
The first time he had called her by her name seemed to wake her up. Her eyes were still the icy blue he had known.  
  
"...Mister Dante?"  
  
"Kid...you okay?"  
  
Eevee smiled weakly, "Do I look it?"  
  
Dante chuckled back, "I see you can pronouce the letter 'l' now."  
  
Eevee smiled back, and tried to stand herself up, then realising that she was naked.  
  
"Oh, god."  
  
Dante whipped off his trench coat and gave it to her, and she took it gratefully, doing up all the belts.  
  
"Why were they after you?"  
  
"Because I have something they want. Supreme power or something."  
  
"That is usually the case..."  
  
"You didn't have to come, you know. I could've easily gotten myself out of this mess with the right insentive."  
  
"Ah," said a booming voice behind them, "but now I get twice as much fun, as I now get to kill Dante, the infamous son of Sparda, using the power from your body."  
  
They spun around, and saw Arkthen, holding his staff above his head, with was now glowing a vivid yellow.  
  
"The time is now."  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Dante didn't seem scared at all. He only smirked the way he usually did when a devil reared its head.  
  
"Are you the one who brought the kid here?"  
  
Arkthen nodded, smiling wryly, "Aye. And you're not going to be the one to interfere, I can assure you of that."  
  
Arkthen raised his palm to raise Dante, and multiple beams of red energy shot out of it. In a flash Dante whipped out his sword and flected all of the, save for one, which hit his leg. Dante didn't cry out in pain, but he didn't hiss quietly.  
  
"Nice try, Goaty. but it's gonna take a little bit more than that to take me down."  
  
"Oh, good. Because I know just the person who can give me that 'little bit more'."  
  
Arkthen turned his head away from Dante, and rested his eyes on Eevee. Eevee looked around.  
  
"Uhm, not from me you won't."  
  
Arkthen chuckled quietly.  
  
"Foolish girl so unawares and unprepared. I'd say bye to Dante now, if I were you."  
  
Dante looked at Eevee, then back to Arkthen.  
  
"What are you-"  
  
Dante never got the chance to finish his sentence. Arkthen had pointed his staff at Eevee, and she creamed once more. Her eyes began to lose their icy blue spark, and they went white as a sheet. Black scales started to cover her body, and leathery wings grew from her back, and white, deadly looking spikes sprouted from her spine. Dante could only look on in hirror as Eevee went into her devil trigger mode, under the control of Arkthen. The scremaing finally stopped, and Eevee crouched into a small huddle. Dante briefly turned his face to Arkthen. His eyes had gone sheet white, like Eevee's.  
  
"What have you done to her?!"  
  
"Oh, I wouldn't turn your back on her if I were you."  
  
Dante felt a searing pain shoot up his spine. Eevee had dug her newly grown claws into his back, and started to pulsate the energy that lay dormant within her into Dante's body. He grunted, trying to resist the urge to turn around and shoot her with Ebony and Ivory...  
  
"EEVEE, STOP!"  
  
Eevee pulled her claws out of his body, and growled like a wild animal, throwing herself at Dante. He managed to stop her oncoming claw attack and hold her off him, with his hands around her neck.  
  
"Kid, don't do this!"  
  
Dante felt Eevee's white, lifeless eyes bore into his own. Eevee managed to break her hands free of his grip, and swirling red energy began to form into her hands.  
  
Dante looked back at Arkthen, who held his staff forward, and his razor sharp wit kicked in.  
  
As Eevee drew her hand back for the final blow, he leaned backwards into a backwards roll, and forced Eevee's hand upwards, so the energy hit Arkthen's staff, and it was blasted to pieces. Arkthen stumbled back, watching as a red substance started to spill form the broken orb...Eevee's body went limp in Dante's arm.  
  
"Kid?! Kid!!"  
  
Dante shook her violently in a vain attempt to wake her up. She was barely alive, drawing in harsh, rasping breaths.  
  
Arkthen chuckled again, though weakening aswell.  
  
"she'll be dead in a matter of minutes...I may have spilled the essence that will grant me power from the orb, but as long as I can spill hers and take it in my hand, it shall not matter...hand her over, halfling."  
  
Arkthen, being about five times bigger than Dante, could squash him at any second.  
  
"...You're not gonna lay a finger on her."  
  
"Wrong choice."  
  
Arkthen drew his hand back, and Dante watched as white energy began to gather in it. It saprated into three sperate strips of energy, that looked like spears. A quick flick of Arkthen's wrist sent them flying through the air, and into Dante's body. They began to spark as if they were electrified, and they suddenlt exploded in an electric surge that made Dante scream in pain for the first time in years.  
  
Eevee's eyes snapped open - as they did, Dante's body fell beside her. He wasn't dead, just yet, but he was unconcious. He groaned quietly, desperate not to show pain, even though he was out cold.  
  
Eevee had her insentive, and now she would use it.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
She took a hold of Dante's sword, and plunged it into her chest. Where it pierced through her skin, a red swirling substance poured into the air, making its way towards Arkthen's spilled essence. Arkthen made a move towards it as the two substances joined into one, but Eevee got there first. She smiled so evilly it could make a devil cry.  
  
"Payback time, scum."  
  
Eevee raised her hands towards the heavens, the red swirling essence forming into a small orb. A form of red lightning jolted down from above, and channeled its way through Eevee's body. Even near to his destruction. Arkthen managed a smirk.  
  
"...My girl, you may destroy nearly all the demons in America by doing this...but you will also kill your good friend Dante in doing so."  
  
"'Fraid not."  
  
And, to Arkthen's amazement, Dante's body began to rise. With a snap of Eevee's fingers, Dante's body dissapeared in a flash of white light, causing Arkthen's smirk to fall faster than a meteor.  
  
"See ya in hell," was all that Eevee said.  
  
Eevee let her hands fall to her sides, making the red electricity spread out in a perfect circle from her body, eliminating Arkthen, all the demons in the underworld at the present time, and all the demons above the surface. Somewhere, she could feel demons being weakened, and one powerful life force that was immune to his sudden surge in power.  
  
"...Damn..."  
  
Eevee watched as the underworld around her dissolved into the streets of America and the cool night air caressed her body, as she fell to the ground and moved no more.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Dante groaned and shivered. The first thing that hit him was a stinging sensation in his back. He reached for the epicentre of the pain, and found no wound. He was cold, and was surprised that he wasn't wearing his trenchcoat. His head hurt as he tried to think back to what had happened, then it suddenly came back to him,  
  
"EEVEE!"  
  
He rushed outside and found the bodies of dead demons, pulsating with red electricity. he suddenly remembered...the red essence...and it hit him.  
  
Eevee wouldn't be coming back.  
  
"...oh, Kid..."  
  
And for the first time since his childhood, Dante shed devil's tears.  
  
.:: Six Months Later... ::.  
  
Dante found himself walking towards the graveyard once more. It was a cloudy, cold day, his favourite type of weather. He felt the temperature drop slightly.   
  
He stopped in front of a new, shiny looking tombstone. It had a rather large Angel statue towering above the ground. the lettering read:  
  
"Rachel Hollings  
  
Dear Mother to Eevee Hollings, may they both rest in peace."  
  
Beneath the statue, dried into the mud, was a crude but meaningfully drawn Angel, protected by a glass casing.  
  
Dante turned his head past the Angel statue, and looked at another tombstone. It was a large flat slab with an angel engraving carved into the front. The slab read,  
  
"Eevee Hollings  
  
May she now know the blessings of heaven."  
  
Dante sighed..he was powerless to save her that day, and he felt terrible for it even now. He felt his stomach twist, but he held back his devil tears, and slowly walked back to the DMC.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
Upon arriving he found a very strange package at the door. He took it inside and studied the package, which was wrapped in brown wrapping paper and tied with string. He ripped it open, and inside the wrapping was a shoebox. He took the lid off, and what he saw amazed him far beyond what he had ever felt before.  
  
It was his trenchcoat.  
  
Attached to the belt was a note:  
  
"Mister Dante,  
  
I'll pay you back for the tombstone one day, mark my words."  
  
A voice suddenly rang through the office.  
  
"I've got the cash now, if you want."  
  
It was a teenaged girl...silvery blonde hair flowing past her waist, icy blue eyes staring at Dante's bewildered face, and a black scaly tail was poking from above her jeans, wiggling of its own accord.  
  
- - - - - - - -  
  
And thats it. I hope you enjoyed it, if not, then tuff luck. xp I'd love some reviews, please. But if you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all, but constructive criticism it greatly appreciated. thanks for reading. 


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